A DOZEN (OR MORE)

NEW REVENUE IDEAS

FOR PUBLISHERSAnd Tips On How to Pull Them Off

Jim Sulecki | Corporate Content Director | Meister Media Worldwide

Niche Media Conference | Denver, CO | April 1, 2015

Jim Sulecki | Corporate Content Director | Meister Media Worldwide

Editorial

198x-2002

Publishing Mgmt / Sales

2002-2008

Digital Media

2008-20122012-

Willoughby, OH | Orlando, FL | Memphis, TN | Modesto, CA

RICHARD T. MEISTERChairman Emeritus | Editor-in-Chief

“Happy families

growing things…”

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

2010 2015 (B) 2017 (T)

Print

Events, Awards

Digital“Direct To Market”

Total Revenue Growth

CHANGES IN REVENUE MIX

Greater revenue

diversity – but far

more demand for

ideas, product

development

TOTAL COMMUNITY:GETTING PRODUCTS INTO ORBIT

Audience Advertisers

Print

Digital

Events

Data

Initiatives

EVERYTHING NOW IS MULTI-PLATFORM

For media today,

working across

platforms is not a

choice – it’s a

necessity

(rock bands may have been among the first to get this)

AND BTW…WHY NEW REVENUE IDEAS?

DOWN TO BUSINESS

• A Dozen (Or More) New Revenue Ideas

• Tips On How How To Pull It All Off

• Takeaways

• Dialogue

A DOZEN (OR MORE) NEW REVENUE IDEAS

IDEA 1: SPIN OFFS!BY CONTIGUOUS MARKET

> >

Offspring now generate more revenue than their ‘mother’

>?

IDEA 2: SPIN OFF VERTICALLY WITHIN A MARKET

>

• Economies of

scale – same

staff

• Stay in scope

– no mission

creep; product

must be

differentiated

IDEA 3: LAUNCH ACROSS MARKETS

• Serve

common

interests

IDEA 4: ESTABLISH ALLIANCES

• Bring to

the table

what

another

doesn’t

have

IDEA 5: OFFER CEUs

• Gives

another

compelling

reason to

attend

IDEA 6: SEGMENT BY SIZE

• The very

largest

• Sponsored

print, digital,

events

• Opportunity

for audience

revenue

IDEA 7: SEGMENT BY AGE

• Sponsor

revenue?

• Audience

revenue?

• At the very

least…grooming

next-generation

audience

IDEA 8: NICHE EVENTS

• Tightly focus on bringing

buyers, sellers together

• Be leery of taking on large,

“pipe-and-drape”

tradeshows – unless

there’s a clear need

IDEA 9: MEGA EVENTS

• If there is a clear

need…go for it!

• Organizer of this

show once was a

magazine publisher

SOME NOTES ON EVENTS

One size does not fit all!

• Tradeshow

• Hosted buyer

• Conferences

• Seminars

• Awards

SOME NOTES ON EVENTS

The margins on events often aren’t as

good as those for print (or digital)

People Time Cost Of Goods

Print

Digital

Events

Medium Medium

High Low

High High

Media moving

increasingly to

a more labor-

intensive model

SOME NOTES ON EVENTS

They’re multi-platform-dependent / content hogs

• You can have print (or digital) without events,

BUT…

• It’s hard to have events without print (and nearly

impossible without digital)

SOME NOTES ON EVENTS

Do they really play

to the strengths of

editors?

IDEA 10: CREATE AWARDS PROGRAMS

• Like events,

these play out

across multiple

platforms

IDEA 11: MINE THE DATA YOU HAVE ON ADVERTISERS, PRODUCTS, AUDIENCE

EXAMPLE:

Distributors search

for suppliers of

specific products…

…then send out

product requests.

Suppliers review

requests, and

respond.

BUILT-IN BENEFITS

• Tied-in to events that are

in-person analog to buy-

sell mode

• Already have most data

from a (discontinued)

print title

• Flat-page directory

promotes data product

AND…A FEW PRECAUTIONS

• Anticipate that data publishing

is very different from

journalism publishing• Mindset

• Skillset

• Build for eventual subscriber

support; ad revenue a plus

• Build products, not platforms!

A SUCCESS STORY

• $700k annual

revenue

• Wraps value around

the usero Certification

o Events

o Online tools

IDEA 12: CARVE A WHOLE NEW DATA NICHE

Be prepared to go both high

and low

o On-the ground data

gathering, verifying

of supplied data

o Hiring a data scientist(a) (b)

IDEA 13: BE THE LEARNING CENTER FOR YOUR MARKET

• Audience revenue

• Revenue share with

presenters

• Presenters are speakers

are columnists

IDEA 14: TOPICAL ENEWSLETTERS

Tightly focused on

specific topics

o Content deep dives

for audience

o Hospitable

environment for

category advertisers

IDEA 15: LET CONTRIBUTORS DO THE TALKING

• Penton’s “Xpert”

bloggers across markets

• Drive engagement (and

pageviews /

sponsorships)

• Site is thought-leader

IDEA 16: INITIATIVES

Something a whole market

can rally behind

o A better future

o Education

o Increase in

professionalism

o Government advocacy

o Industry recruitment

IDEA 16: INITIATIVES

Example:

o Leadership

roundtables about the

city’s future

o Events for young

people and new

residents

o Awards for best rehabs

o Contests for best new

ideas

o Tours of interesting areas

o Corporate sponsors

o Affiliations with city groups

“Rebuilding / Rebranding Cleveland”

IDEA 17: BUILD YOURDIRECT-TO-MARKET BUSINESS

• News flash: The larger share of

most marketers’ spend is not

going to media platforms

• Five areas at Meister:o Mail direct

o Email direct

o Data services

o Custom publishing

o Custom events

IDEA 18: CUSTOM DIGITAL SERVICES

• Four key areas:o Custom content

o Site design

o Site development

o Video / webinar production

• Custom content is BIG

TIPS ON HOW TO PULL IT ALL OFF

FORMALLY “SCAN” THE YEAR AHEAD FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES

• Mid-year-ish

• All-hands | half-day discussion

• Emerging trends | possible

opportunities

• Build into coming year’s plans

• Idea-generation at every strata

BE CLEAR ABOUT PEOPLE’S MOTIVATION TO TAKE ON NEW IDEAS

• Sales people: generally financial

• Editors and assorted creatives:

a new intellectual challenge

• All: a sense that you’re part of

something progressive and

rewarding

$

“Idea generation is not a problem

in our organization. We have

plenty of good ideas.”– Gary T. Fitzgerald, Chairman/CEO, Meister Media Worldwide

PRIORITIZE / FLIGHT IDEAS

• Beware pet projects

• Someone has to play traffic

cop

• Prioritizing criteria needed

(often revenue)

• Balance between

empowering and practicality

STAY WITHIN SCOPE

• Especially important for

developmental and custom

projects

• “But this client is spending

$X with us…”

NOT JUST GROWTH –PROFITABLE GROWTH!

• Know when to start –

and when to stop

• If it ain’t fixed, break it!

“Media

companies

have a hard

time stopping

something

once it’s

started”

INVEST AND RESOURCE

• Redeploy current employees

• Or…new hires – usually with

specialized, proven knowledge

• Although – increasingly finding

some knowledge of / instinct for

the market is important

COORDINATE ACROSS PLATFORMS

• Vertical excellence

needed – but

horizontal

consistency makes a

product / project sing!

TAKEAWAYS

TAKEAWAYS

• Expand horizontally – “next door” markets

• Expand vertically – new demographic strata

within your core market

TAKEAWAYS

• Think core market needs – then platforms

TAKEAWAYS

• Harness the power of co-workers’ ideas, buy-in

• Reckon with the time and money to get

something new off the ground (usually 30% more

than estimated)

• Judge by results (“brand-building” need not

apply)

TAKEAWAYS

• Know there is no way back – publishing is now

multi-platform, multi-faceted

• Enjoy it! This is a deeper, richer experience

Thank you

Jim Sulecki | Corporate Content Director | Meister Media Worldwide

Niche Media Conference | Denver, CO | April 1, 2015